Byzantine Crete
Crete Κρήτη (Krḗtē) | |||||||||||||
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Province of the Byzantine Empire | |||||||||||||
c. 297 – c. 824/827 961–1205 | |||||||||||||
Diocese of Macedonia, c. 400 | |||||||||||||
Capital | Gortyn (until 820s) Chandax (from 961) | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
c. 297 | |||||||||||||
c. 824 or 827 | |||||||||||||
• Byzantine reconquest | 960–961 | ||||||||||||
1205 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Today part of | Greece |
The island of Crete came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire in two periods: the first extends from the late antique period (3rd century) to the conquest of the island by Andalusian exiles in the late 820s, and the second from the island's reconquest in 961 to its capture by the competing forces of Genoa and Venice in 1205.
History
First Byzantine period
Under Roman rule, Crete was part of the joint province as Crete and Cyrenaica. Under Diocletian (r. 284–305) it was formed as a separate province, while Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) subordinated it to the Diocese of Moesiae (and later the Diocese of Macedonia) within the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum, an arrangement that persisted until the end of late antiquity.[1][2][3] Some administrative institutions, like the venerable Koinon of the island, persisted until the end of the fourth century,[4] but as elsewhere in the empire these provincial civic institutions were abandoned in face of the increasing power of imperial officials.[citation needed]
Few contemporary sources mention Crete during the period from the 4th century to the Muslim conquest in the 820s. During this time, the island was very much a quiet provincial backwater in the periphery of the Greco-Roman world.[5] Its bishops are even absent from the First Council of Nicaea in 325, in contrast to neighbouring islands like Rhodes or Kos.[6] With the exception of an attack by the Vandals in 457 and the great earthquakes of 9 July 365, 415 448 and 531, which destroyed many towns, the island remained peaceful and prosperous, as testified by the numerous, large and well-built monuments from the period surviving on the island.[7][8][9] In the 6th-century Synecdemus, Crete is marked as being governed by a consularis, with capital at Gortyn, and as many as 22 cities.[4] The population in this period is estimated as high as 250,000, and was almost exclusively Christian, except for some Jews living in the main urban centres.[10]
This peace was broken in the 7th century. Crete suffered a raid by the
Arab conquest and Byzantine reconquest
Byzantine rule lasted until the late 820s, when a large group of exiles from
A major Byzantine campaign in 842/843 under Theoktistos made some headway, and apparently allowed for the re-establishment of the recovered parts of the island as a theme, as evidenced by the presence of a strategos of Crete in the contemporary Taktikon Uspensky. However Theoktistos had to abandon the campaign, and the troops left behind were quickly defeated by the Saracens.[2][19][20] Further Byzantine attempts at reconquest in 911 and 949 failed disastrously,[21][22] until in 960–961 the general Nikephoros Phokas, at the head of a huge army, landed on the island and stormed Chandax, restoring Crete to Byzantium.[7][23]
Second Byzantine period
After the reconquest, the island was organized as a regular theme, with a strategos based at Chandax. Extensive efforts at conversion of the populace were undertaken, led by
Under
Governors
Office of governor
According to the
The status of the province after early Muslim conquests, when the theme system was being instituted is unclear. It may have been part of the theme of Hellas or Peloponnese.[28] It was a separate province governed by archons (an archontia) from the first half of the eighth century. These are mostly known from seals and can be ordered and dated only approximately.[29] An archontia lacked the military resources of a theme and Crete's lower status relative to the themes was probably a factor in its inability to resist the Arab incursions without major expeditionary forces sent from elsewhere.[30]
Crete is not included in any surviving list of themes, either Byzantine or Arab. In the Taktikon of 842/843, there is reference to both a "patrician and strategos of Crete" and an "archon of Crete", implying that Crete had recently been raised to a theme and its governors from archon to strategos.[31] This was probably a response to the Arab invasion. According to the Continuations of Theophanes, the Emperor Michael II (820–829) appointed Photeinos "to govern the affairs of Crete",[32] probably around 828. He was probably the first strategos, although his authority would have been limited by the Arab conquests. With the failure of the campaign of Theoktistos in 843, the theme of Crete ceased to exist.[29]
List of governors
- Proconsul
- Helios (539)[27]
- Archon
- Theophanes Lardotyros (c. 764–767), also called strategos and archisatrap in the Vita of Stephen the Younger[33]
- John (8th century), paraphylax[32]
- Leo (8th century), imperial spatharios[32][34]
- Basil (8th century), imperial spatharios[32]
- Baasakios (8th/9th century), imperial spatharios[32]
- Nicholas (8th/9th century), imperial spatharios and hypatos[32]
- Nicholas (8th/9th century), imperial spatharios[34]
- Petronas (first years of the 9th century), imperial spatharios[34]
- Constantine (first quarter of the 9th century), imperial spatharios[32]
- Strategos
- Photeinos (c. 828)[29]
- Arab rule (843–961)
- Michael (10th/11th century), dishypatos[34]
- Basil (c. 1000), patrician[34]
- Bracheon Philaretos (c. 1028), protospatharios[34]
- Eumathios (1028), protospatharios[34]
- Doux (katepano)
- Michael Karantenos (1088–1089), vestarch[34]
- Karykes (1090–1092)[34]
- Nikephoros Diogenes (before 1094), son of Romanos IV[34]
- Michael (11th/12th century)[34]
- John Elladas (1118), protoproedros[34]
- John Straboromanos (mid-12th century)[34]
- Alexios Kontostephanos (1167), nephew of Manuel II[34]
- Constantine Doukas (1183)[34]
- Stephen Kontostephanos (1193)[34]
- Nikephoros Kontostephanos (1197)[34]
References
- ^ a b Kazhdan (1991), p. 545
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nesbitt & Oikonomides (1994), p. 94
- ^ Detorakis (1986), pp. 128–129
- ^ a b Detorakis (1986), p. 129
- ^ Detorakis (1986), p. 128
- ^ Hetherington (2001), p. 60
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kazhdan (1991), p. 546
- ^ Hetherington (2001), p. 61
- ^ Detorakis (1986), pp. 131–132
- ^ Detorakis (1986), pp. 130–131
- ^ Detorakis (1986), p. 132
- ^ Treadgold (1997), pp. 313, 325
- ^ Detorakis (1986), pp. 132–133
- ^ Detorakis (1986), p. 133
- ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 378
- ^ cf. Herrin, Judith (1986). "Crete in the conflicts of the Eighth Century". Αφιέρωμα στον Νίκο Σβορώνο, Τόμος Πρώτος. Rethymno: Crete University Press. pp. 113–126.
- ^ Detorakis (1986), pp. 129–130
- ^ Makrypoulias (2000), pp. 347–348
- ^ Makrypoulias (2000), p. 351
- ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 447
- ^ Makrypoulias (2000), pp. 352–356
- ^ Treadgold (1997), pp, 470, 489
- ^ a b Treadgold (1997), p. 495
- ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 710
- ^ Treadgold (1997), pp. 712, 715
- ^ Tsougarakis 1988, p. 156.
- ^ a b Tsougarakis 1988, p. 157.
- ^ Tsougarakis 1988, pp. 166–167.
- ^ a b c Tsougarakis 1988, pp. 173–174.
- ^ Tsougarakis 1988, pp. 177–178.
- ^ Tsougarakis 1988, pp. 169–170.
- ^ a b c d e f g Tsougarakis 1988, pp. 168–169.
- ^ Tsougarakis 1988, p. 171.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Tsougarakis 1988, pp. 361–368.
Sources
- Detorakis, Theocharis E. (1986). Ιστορία της Κρήτης [History of Crete] (in Greek). Athens. )
- Hetherington, Paul (2001), The Greek Islands. Guide to the Byzantine and Medieval Buildings and their Art, London, ISBN 1-899163-68-9)
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Makrypoulias, Christos G. (2000), "Byzantine Expeditions against the Emirate of Crete c. 825–949", Graeco-Arabica (7–8): 347–362
- Nesbitt, John; ISBN 0-88402-226-9.
- ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
- Tsougarakis, Dimitris (1988). Byzantine Crete: From the 5th Century to the Venetian Conquest. Athens: Historical Publications St. D. Basilopoulos. ISBN 960-7100-04-2.